Discussion

Thanks for the Fox & Obel rec...and a funny story

Just want to say thanks for the Fox and Obel rec. We went there several times throughout our stay in Chicago. Love the brioche breakfast pastry and the cinnamon buns. One funny story...we were buying some picnic food to go out to Ravinia and we picked out some nice cheeses and the cheese lady asked us what meat we were gloing to get to pair with one cheese and she asked if we were getting Iberico ham and my partner loves spanish food so we immediatley beat it over the cold meats and we both received a taste of the iberico ham and my partner asked for a few thin slices and while the clerk was doing the slicing I happen to look in the case at the ham again and see a price of $179.99 lb and looked a few times to make sure I was seeing correctly! I almost choked and motioned to my partner to look at the price and we almost died. We only got about an ounce so that wasn't too bad. I have never seen in all of my life any meats for $180 lb. Now we laugh about it. LOL! Thanks for all your Chicago recs. You are all lucky to live out there, Chicago is a very beautiful city and I hope to go back again someday!

Fox & Obel has a lot of overpriced stuff, $40/lb and up for some of the meats and fish. I live nearby and and avoided the place for years. However, I've learned that they do have some tremendous deals. Their rotisserie chickens for $4/lb are hot from the oven, and are much tastier and leaner than anyone's. Their cheese selection is excellent, maybe as good as Whole Foods, maybe not.

For a local, it's a godsend. One can run over there and buy terrific desserts, homemade pasta sauces, their wine selection is good, and they have plenty of reasonably-priced selections. Their selection of coffee beans is extensive, and their bakery is the best in the neighborhood.

When I have dinner guests, I like to serve a Caesar Salad, and Fox sells white anchovies. They're $28/lb, but one only needs a few ounces to transform a routine salad into a delicacy.

If you bought your food at Fox and went out to Ravinia, you partook of our treasures. You received good recommendations.

Many of the items at Fox & Obel are rather expensive, but in many cases they represent a higher level of quality and/or items that are hard to find elsewhere. Every time I go there, I find things that are simply superb. And, as Greg notes, there are some items that do indeed represent tremendous deals. One of my favorites is their Jewish-deli-style kippered salmon; theirs is not only excellent, but at $19.99/pound, it costs less than at Jewish delis like Kaufman's in Skokie.